Note: This story was last updated at 4 p.m.
State authorities are investigating the death of a 29-year-old man in an Oak Ridge apartment on Monday.
Oak Ridge police officers said Thomas Thrasher was dead when they arrived at a second-floor apartment at 615 West Vanderbilt Drive at about 4:40 a.m. Monday. The Oak Ridge Police Department, which had responded to a report of a possible intruder, said the death was “suspicious,” and they turned the case over to Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark.
Clark asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to investigate, TBI Public Information Officer Susan Niland said Wednesday.
Niland said the cause of death has not been determined pending an autopsy. She said it’s not clear how long the autopsy might take or how many tests have to be performed.
Michelle Owens, who lives at 613 West Vanderbilt Drive, on the ground floor below 615, said police knocked on her door at 6:30 a.m. Monday and asked her if she had heard any commotion.
Owens said something woke up her father at about 4:40 a.m. Monday, but they didn’t hear any unusual noises.
“We didn’t hear anything,†she said.
Friend Josh Hamilton said he was in the same grade as Thrasher, also known as “T.S.,” and the two attended school together, from Glenwood Elementary School to Oak Ridge High School. Thrasher was passionate, a very avid movie person, and loved comic books, Hamilton said. He could describe a movie in such detail, you wouldn’t even have to watch it, Hamilton said.
Though they weren’t as close as they once were, the two still kept in touch, including through Facebook, Hamilton said.
“He was a really nice guy,” Hamilton said.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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